it is september 14th. this is your a.m. wake-up call. i m carol costello joining you live this morning from new york. thanks for waking up with us. nearly one in six americans are now living in poverty. that s according to a new report from the census bureau. it s a gut check on where we stand in the wake of the recession. here are the raw numbers from the government. 46.2 million lived in poverty in 2010. that s over 15% of the population, the highest level since 1993. for a family of four, the poverty line is just over $22,000 a year. some advocates for the poor say that bar is way too low, but the conservative heritage foundation is pushing back again. if you qualify as being in poverty today, then you re really in deep poverty because that number is so low. that s based on an outdated formula from the 60s. i think that these numbers are designed to exaggerate the extent of poverty in the united states in order to build a larger welfare state, and it does make it mo